‘Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Maths
Maths statement of intent
At Thatcham Park we believe that all pupils are mathematicians. Mathematics teaches us how to make sense of the world around us through developing a child’s ability to calculate, to reason and to solve problems. It enables children to understand and appreciate relationships and pattern in both number and space in their everyday lives. As a school, we strive to plan and provide interesting and well-planned lessons where children continuously build on the knowledge they have already mastered to promote children’s enjoyment of mathematics and provide a foundation for enthusiastic lifelong learning.
Our curriculum for maths aims to ensure that all pupils:
- enjoy mathematics. We are positive about mathematics and strive to ensure that children feel confident and develop resilience by improving their growth mindset in order to reach their full potential.
- develop their mathematical thinking and conceptual understanding e.g. using concrete manipulatives (objects) and pictorial representations (abstract), before moving on to abstract symbols (numbers and signs); giving children opportunities to explain and justify their mathematical reasoning using mathematical vocabulary.
- become fluent in mathematics. We promote varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, investigating relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions. Children can experience a sense of awe and wonder as they solve a problem for the first time, discover a more elegant solution and make links between different areas of mathematics.
- to enable children to apply their mathematical skills not only in Maths, but also in Science and other subjects, in everyday life situations.
- build capacity to develop their inquiry and communication skills to equip them to be successful within a workplace.